Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lipa

Archbishop of Lipa
Archbishopric
catholic
Incumbent:
Ramon Arguelles
Country Philippines
Province Ecclesiastical Province of Lipa
Archdiocese Archdiocese of Lipa
Cathedral Metropolitan Cathedral of San Sebastian
First incumbent Joseph Petrelli
Formation Bishopric in 1910
Archbishopric in 1972
Website Archbishop of Lipa

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Lipa is the head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lipa and the Metropolitan Bishop of the suffragan dioceses of Boac, Gumaca, Lucena and the Prelature of Infanta.

The present Archbishop is the Ramon Arguelles. He was ordained bishop on Jan. 6, 1994. On May 14, 2004, he was appointed Archbishop of Lipa.

History

When the original Diocese of Lipa was created in April 10, 1910, the Bishop of Lipa had authority over a very vast region of a mostly homogenous Tagalog population. The Bishop used to oversee the Roman Catholics in the provinces of Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, Marinduque and Mindoro.[1]

In 1936, the first territorial re-organisation of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lipa was promulgated with the creation of the Apostolic Prelature of Calapan, thus separating the province of Mindoro to the Archdiocese. This was followed by the creation of the Diocese of Lucena and the Prelature of Infanta in 1950.

Another re-organisation happened in 1967 when the province of Laguna was raised to the rank of a diocese under the titular Diocese of San Pablo. The Diocese of Boac in Marinduque was created in 1977 and that of Gumaca in 1984. Both dioceses were part of the Diocese of Lucena before their establishment. In 1983 the new Apostolic Vicariate of San Jose in Occidental Mindoro was created.

Today the Archdiocese of Lipa is for the province of Batangas alone. But the population has multiplied many times over. The archdiocese is divided into 6 vicariates, each headed by a vicar forane . Except for the parishes in Vicariate IV which are run by the Oblates of St. Joseph, all other parishes are run by the diocesan clergy. There are 49 parishes in all, served by 143 priests. 122 of them diocesan. There are 13 religious brothers, and 197 religious sisters. Catholic schools number 23, high school seminaries 2 and college seminaries 3. Two pastoral centers are being maintained.

Past and Present Prelates of Lipa

No. Incumbent Tenure Notes
From Until
1 Joseph Petrelli † Apr 12, 1910 Appointed Mar 30, 1915Appointed as the first Bishop of the Diocese of Lipa; later appointed as official to the Roman Curia
2 Alfredo Verzosa y Florentin † 06 Sept 1916Feb 25, 1951 Retired from office
3 Alejandro Olalia †Dec 28, 1953Jan 2, 1973Died in office
4 Ricardo VidalAug 22, 1973Apr 13, 1981Later appointed as the Archbishop of Cebu
5 Mariano Gaviola y Garcés †Apr 13, 1981Dec 30, 1992
6 Gaudencio RosalesDec 30, 199215 Sept 2003Later appointed as the Archbishop of Manila
7 Ramon ArguellesMay 14, 2004presentSeventh archbishop of Lipa

References

  1. "Archdiocese of Lipa". Cbcponline.net. Retrieved 2011-04-07.
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